U.S. patent number 4,192,100 [Application Number 05/853,552] was granted by the patent office on 1980-03-11 for sliding door apparatus.
Invention is credited to Kenneth G. Klema.
United States Patent |
4,192,100 |
Klema |
March 11, 1980 |
Sliding door apparatus
Abstract
Sliding door apparatus for closing large openings in large
building structures. The invention is characterized by a sliding
door engaged with a building structure and having at least one edge
aligned to slide parallel to a portion of the door frame, the edge
and frame portion defining a gap therebetween and constituting two
relatively moveable adjacent members one of which has a
magnetically receptive surface extending along the gap, the other
having a flexible magnetic sealing strip along the gap and spanning
the gap to magnetically engage the surface when the sliding door is
closed.
Inventors: |
Klema; Kenneth G. (Racine,
WI) |
Family
ID: |
25316336 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/853,552 |
Filed: |
November 21, 1977 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
49/404; 49/125;
49/425; 49/478.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E05D
15/08 (20130101); E06B 3/4636 (20130101); E06B
7/2314 (20130101); E05Y 2900/132 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E06B
3/32 (20060101); E06B 7/23 (20060101); E06B
3/46 (20060101); E05D 15/08 (20060101); E05D
15/06 (20060101); E06B 7/22 (20060101); E05D
015/26 (); E05D 015/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;49/125,478,425,412,409,410,411,404 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Kannan; Philip C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Jansson; Peter N.
Claims
I claim:
1. Sliding door apparatus for closing an opening in a building
structure, comprising:
a frame on said structure defining said opening;
at least one sliding door engaged with said structure and having an
edge aligned substantially parallel to a portion of said frame,
said edge and said frame portion constituting relatively moveable,
adjacent members defining a gap therebetween;
rods extending from one of said adjacent members, spanning said
gap, and terminating in distal ends engaged in guides on the other
of said adjacent members, said rods being axially slidable with
respect to at least one of said adjacent members to accommodate
changing gap dimensions while engaging said guides;
a magnetically receptive surface on one of said adjacent members
and extending along said gap;
a flexible sealing strip attached to the other of said adjacent
members along said gap and spanning said gap and having magnetic
means therewith to magnetically engage said strip with said
receptive surface when said door is closed;
means causing convergence of said receptive surface and said strip
at one set of their adjacent ends when said door is substantially
closed thereby to initiate a magnetic wave action to close said gap
in substantially weather-tight fashion.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said magnetic means comprises a
multiplicity of magnetized particles interspersed and trapped in
said flexible sealing strip.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said receptive surface is on
said edge and said strip is attached to said frame portion.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said magnetic means comprises a
multiplicity of magnetized particles interspersed and trapped in
said flexible sealing strip.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said strip is attached to said
edge and said receptive surface is on said frame portion.
6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said magnetic means comprises a
multiplicity of magnetized particles interspersed and trapped in
said flexible sealing strip.
7. Sliding door apparatus for closing an opening in a building
structure, comprising;
a frame on said structure defining said opening;
at least one sliding door engaged with said structure and having an
edge aligned substantially parallel to a portion of said frame,
said edge and said frame portion constituting relatively moveable,
adjacent members defining a gap therebetween;
a magnetically receptive surface on one of said adjacent members
and extending along said gap; and
a flexible sealing strip attached to the other of said adjacent
members along said gap and spanning said gap and having magnetic
means therewith to magnetically engage said strip with said
receptive surface when said door is closed, said receptive surface
and said strip being convergent at one set of their adjacent ends
to intersect when said door is substantially closed, thereby
initiating a magnetic wave action of said strip to close said gap
in substantially weather-tight fashion.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said magnetic means comprises a
multiplicity of magnetized particles interspersed and trapped in
said flexible sealing strip.
9. Sliding door apparatus for closing an opening in a building
structure, comprising:
a frame on said structure defining the opening;
at least one sliding door engaged with said structure and having an
edge aligned with a portion of the frame, the edge and frame
portion constituting relatively moveable adjacent members defining
a gap therebetween;
a magnetically receptive surface on one of the adjacent members and
extending along the gap;
a sealing strip attached to the other adjacent member along the gap
and having magnetic means therewith to engage the strip to the
receptive surface when the door is closed; and
means to cause convergence of the strip and receptive surface at
one set of their adjacent ends when the door is substantially
closed thereby to initiate sealing of the gap.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the receptive surface is on
the door edge and the strip is attached to said frame portion.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the strip is a flexible
material having a multiplicity of magnetized particles interspersed
and trapped therein.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the receptive surface is on
the door edge and the strip is attached to said frame portion.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to sliding door apparatus and in particular
to an improved sealing arrangement for sliding doors of the type
used in closing large openings in large building structures.
Unique problems are associated with sliding doors of the type used
in closing large openings in large building structures such as
airplane hangars, factories and warehouses. Of primary interest is
the difficulty in obtaining a suitably sealed closure with doors of
such large dimension. Sliding doors of various kinds are the most
practical means to removably cover large openings such as in
hangars. However, large sliding doors present unusual and difficult
problems in attempting to provide suitable sealing engagement of
door to door frame.
In order to facilitate the sliding movements of such doors, it is
necessary to build in adequate clearance between the door and the
door frame. Furthermore, large building structures, such as hangars
are quite often structures of a type prone to react significantly
to environmental changes and conditions, including those involving
temperature, wind, and roof snow loads. With such conditions, the
problems associated with obtaining suitably sealed closures
therewith are exacerbated. The thermal expansion and contraction,
the bowing and bending, and the like, often necessitate greater
clearance between the door frame and the sliding door, which in
turn brings sealing problems of a different sort.
Various seals have been designed for such sliding doors, including
seals made of conventional rubber and other similar sealing
materials. Such seals typically are designed to provide an optimum
seal by a dimension-critical interference fit. However, experience
has shown that such seals lead to leakage because of their
inability to conform to changing building conditions, such as those
caused by wind, temperature, and snow loads. Moreover, the tendency
of such seals to take a particular set upon aging reduces their
ability to conform and to form a consistently good interference
seal between the sliding door and the frame. Such disadvantages are
apparent even with specific designs made to optimize the usefulness
of such seals for changing building conditions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention disclosed and claimed herein is intended to overcome
these problems and to provide a satisfactory long-lasting sliding
door sealing apparatus useful in closing large openings in large
building structures such as hangars, factories and warehouses. The
sliding door apparatus of this invention includes a frame and at
least one sliding door engaged with a building structure and having
at least one edge aligned parallel to a portion of the frame and
spaced therefrom by a clearance gap. The edge and frame constitute
relatively movable adjacent members one of which has a magnetically
receptive surface extending along the gap and the other of which
has a flexible magnetic sealing strip attached along the gap and
spanning the gap to magnetically engage the magnetically receptive
surface when the door is closed. In some embodiments the receptive
surface is on the door edge and the flexible magnetic sealing strip
is on the frame. In other embodiments the flexible magnetic sealing
strip is on the door edge and the magnetically receptive surface is
on the frame.
In a preferred embodiment, the receptive surface and the magnetic
strip are convergent at one set of their adjacent ends to
substantially intersect when the door is substantially closed. Upon
such intersection during closing, a magnetic wave action is
initiated in the strip which continues until the seal effectively
closes the gap along the entire length of the sliding door.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
A principal object of this invention is to provide a sliding door
apparatus for use in closing large openings in large building
structures such as airplane hangars.
Another object of this invention is to provide a unique sliding
door apparatus having superior weather-tight sealing ability.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a sealing
arrangement for sliding doors of the type used in large structures
which can conform to changing conditions in such structures.
Another object of this invention is to provide a sliding door
sealing apparatus which has superior performance characteristics
over a long period of time.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the
description of preferred embodiments which follows and from the
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a large building structure such as a
hangar having multiple sliding doors.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged, partial side sectional view, as indicated by
section 2--2 in FIG. 1, showing the sliding door apparatus, with
the three doors moved to the open (left FIG. 1) position, however,
unlike the closed position shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the top portion of one
sliding door apparatus of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of two adjacent
sliding doors illustrating one form of the sealing apparatus of
this invention.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view similar to FIG.
4 but showing an alternate embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment
of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Like numerals are used throughout the drawings to designate like
parts in the preferred embodiments illustrated.
FIG. 1 illustrates a large building 10 such as an airplane hangar
having sliding doors 12 for removably covering a large access
opening. Doors 12 are arranged on building 10 to close by sliding
to their rightmost position as shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows doors
12 in the fully closed position. To open, each of doors 12 would
slide to the left as shown in FIG. 1. The doors slide in closely
aligned parallel planes. When the access opening, which is defined
by the door frame 16 of building 10, is open, the three doors 12
are fully overlapped and moved partially away from the opening,
partially to the left thereof.
FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the structure, mounting and operation of
sliding doors 12. Each door 12 includes rollers 18 near the floor
14. Each door 12 is engaged with a track 20 through its rollers 18.
Track 20 for each door is permanently mounted in concrete floor 14
of building 10 along the line of which the doors are intended to be
moved. The upper edge 22 on each door is maintained in generally
the proper line and in alignment with track 20 by means of an
alignment slot 24 secured to the door header 26. Header 26,
alignment slots 24 and the structural spacing members 40 which join
slot members 24 form the upper edge of frame 16. The doors 12 each
have at least two slot follower wheels 28 within slots 24 to guide
the doors during sliding movement. Each slot follower wheel 28 is
journaled on a height adjustment rod 30 which is free to slide in a
rod guide 32 secured to the door. Height adjustment rods 30 and
their associated apparatus prevent doors 12 from binding as they
slide across the access opening, which could readily occur with the
slightest variation in dimensions.
Upper edge 22 of each door 12 is aligned substantially parallel
with upper portion 34 of frame 16. A gap 36 is defined between
upper portion 34 of frame 16 and upper edge 22 of each door 12. A
substantial gap 36 is highly preferred in sliding door structures
to accomodate the aforementioned dimensional changes which can
occur for a number of reasons, including temperature variations,
snow loads, changing wind conditions and the like.
Gap 36 between each door 12 and its adjacent frame portion 34 is
sealed by flexible magnetic sealing strip 38. As illustrated best
in FIGS. 2 and 3, strips 38 are secured to upper frame portion 34,
and, more specifically, to structural members 40. Each strip 38 is
attached by fasteners 42 to a rigid mounting strip 44 extending
along frame 16 parallel to upper edge 22 of door 12. Mounting
strips 44 are attached to frame 16 by means of fasteners 46, as
shown in FIG. 3. Mounting strips 44 are set at an angle with
respect to frame 16 and door 12 to direct flexible magnetic sealing
strips 38 toward upper edges 22 of doors 12.
Upper edges 22 of doors 12 include magnetically receptive surfaces
48, each extending along upper edge 22 in the plane of the surface
of door 12. Each magnetically receptive surface 48 is preferably
steel or some other material which is magnetically attracted. When
a door 12 is in its closed position, its upper edge 22 is in a
position adjacent the length of flexible magnetic sealing strip 38.
By virtue of the magnetic attraction between strips 38 and
magnetically receptive surfaces 48 of doors 12, the flexible
magnetic sealing strips span gap 36 along upper edges 22 and
magnetically engage receptive surfaces 48 to complete the closure
of the door opening in substantialy weather-tight fashion.
By virtue of its magnetic properties, the flexible magnetic sealing
strip is far less prone to assume a particular set on aging which
would prevent it from functioning in the desired fashion to close
gap 36. Stated differently, the arrangement of this invention is
such that the sealing strip will function adequately over a much
broader range of varying door conditions than was possible with
prior art sliding door seals.
FIG. 4 illustrates the details of a preferred sealing arrangement
which may be used along the vertical (in the embodiments
illustrated) juncture of two adjacent sliding doors. First door 50,
the corner of which is shown in FIG. 4, was the first of the two
illustrated doors to reach its fully closed position by moving to
the right as shown in FIG. 4. Flexible magnetic sealing strip 38 is
fully engaged with receptive surface 48 and has closed gap 36
between first door 50 and frame 16. Second door 52 next slides to
the right, to the position shown in FIG. 4, and is sealed in the
same fashion along its upper edge 22. A non-magnetic, vertical,
interference seal strip 54 attached to the leading side edge 56 of
first door 50 of necessity mechanically interferes with vertical
sealing surface 58 which is formed on the trailing side edge 60 of
the second door 52. The seal is completed by a further flexible
seal piece not shown which can join each of the ends of the two
flexible magnetic sealing strips illustrated in FIG. 4 to complete
the closure of gap 36.
The upper edges of the sliding doors illustrated in the drawings
and the frame portions substantially parallel thereto constitute
relatively moveable adjacent members. In the embodiment illustrated
in FIGS. 2-4, flexible magnetic sealing strip 38 was attached to
the frame portion adjacent to the sliding door upper edge parallel
thereto. FIG. 5 illustrates an alternate embodiment in which
flexible magnetic sealing strip 38 is attached to upper edge 22 of
sliding door 12, and the magnetically receptive surface 48 is
formed on frame 16, the reverse of the previously described
embodiment. The seal functions in substantially the same manner in
the embodiment of FIG. 5 as in the embodiment previously
described.
FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a preferred embodiment of this
invention. Receptive surface 48 of upper edge 22 of door 12 and
flexible magnetic sealing strip 38 are made convergent at one set
of their adjacent ends to intersect when door 12 is substantially
closed, as illustrated in FIG. 6. As door 12 moves to the closed
position as shown in FIG. 6, its receptive surface intersects one
end of strip 38, initiating a magnetic wave action of strip 38
along magnetically receptive surface 48 to effectively and
positively close the gap therebetween.
The convergence illustrated in FIG. 6 is obtained by means of a
deflector piece 62 which permanently keeps one end of strip 38 in
an intersecting orientation with respect to door 12. Such
convergence may be obtained in a number of other ways, depending on
the precise seal arrangement used. For example, in the embodiment
of FIG. 5 the magnetically receptive surface 48 could be bent at
one end thereof such that one end of the sliding magnetic sealing
strip 38 would of necessity intersect receptive surface 48 when
door 12 reaches its closed position.
The flexible magnetic sealing strip may gain its magnetic
properties in any of a number of ways. For example, magnetic bars
or pieces of other shape may be joined to or formed in the flexible
strip material in a number of ways. Attachment along the free edge
of the strip in a manner preserving the sealing properties of the
strip is preferable. Many suitable means would be apparent to those
skilled in the art who are familiar with this invention.
In a highly preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the
drawings, flexible magnetic sealing strip 38 may be formed of
natural or synthetic materials, such as rubber, vinyl and a wide
variety of other known flexible materials, having a multiplicity of
magnetized ferrite particles interspersed and trapped within the
matter in like magnetic orientation. A preferred material for strip
38 is a flexible, permanent magnetic sheet material sold under the
trademark PLASTIFORM by 3M Company. The PLASTIFORM material is a
vinyl having barium ferrite ferromagnetic crystals therein. Other
suitable materials are available from Goodrich Tire and Rubber
Company and other suppliers. In one embodiment of this invention,
the strip is formed of a rubber-like curtain of flexible material
having a magnetic edge formed of the same or another material
having a multiplicity of magnetic particles interspersed therein.
Acceptable variations would be apparent to those skilled in the art
to whom this invention has been disclosed.
Various materials useful for the several components of this
invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to whom this
invention has been disclosed. Structural steel members and sheet
metal members are highly preferred, although other materials would,
of course, be acceptable, depending on the requirements for a
particular embodiment.
While in the foregoing specification, this invention has been
described in relation to certain preferred embodiments, and many
details have been set forth for purpose of illustration, it will be
apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is
susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the
details described herein can be varied considerably without
departing from the basic principles of the invention.
* * * * *